Monday, May 3, 2010

Movie Reviews - Chicks Flick, Social Commentary and Polanksi Oh My!

I love going to movies and I REALLY love when there are less than 10 people in the theater. So I was pretty happy about my birthday weekend movie pics - all less than 10 people!

The Back-Up Plan - Jennifer Lopez, Alex McLaughlin - **
I have to say a HUGE thank you to Sarah Waterrose for going to see this movie with me. Sarah's not a huge chick flick viewer and the thought of seeing a movie with J-Lo, all about having babies, probably made her skin crawl. But she hung in there in honor of my birthday week. She wins Friend of the Month!! I wanted to see this movie because of Alex McLaughlin, who I loved in Moonlight a few years ago. That show was not bad, but got cancelled. Then he starred in Three Rivers, which quickly got cancelled. I think he needs to fire his agent as his work choices are steadily going down hill. The Back Up Plan is a cute premise, and J-Lo's nose is equally adorable, but overall this movie is not great. J-Lo is a thirty something single woman who knows she wants a family but doesn't have a man in her life. She decides to be a single mom and be artificially inseminated. She leaves the fertility clinic, jumps in a cab and meets McLoughlin's character, who has jumped in the same cab from the other side. Through a series of coincidences, they run into each other a few more times and eventually start to date, just as J-Lo realizes she is pregnant. McLoughlin decides to stick around and hilarity and drama ensue. This could be a really cute movie, but J-Lo's character is just annoying and McLoughlin is too perfect. Not to be old-fashioned, but I couldn't help but walk away from this movie thinking that it is bad for society and young women to see this. It's easy it is to have a baby, even twins! Who worries about money? You'll be happy, well rested and perfect if you have a baby or babies, even if you do it alone! UGH. If movies have a responsibility to not show characters smoking to limit teenage smoking, I think the same should be said for glamorizing parenthood. As for The Back Up Plan, skip it. Wait and check out McLaughlin in the upcoming Hawaii Five-0. He'll be just as cute and you won't want to vomit, or impetuously procreate.

Ghost Writer - Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Timothy Hutton and Olivia Williams - ****
Obviously Roman Polanksi is well known as a director but I was not familiar with his work, only his legal woes (vast understatement). A quick search of imdb.com revealed that I had not seen a single movie he wrote or directed, until Ghost Writer, and now I want to see more. Ghost Writer is a mystery, spy thriller intelligently done. McGregor is hired to finish the memoirs of the former British Prime Minister after the previous ghost writer suddenly turns up dead. The pace is slow, characters are developed well as the intrigue builds and McGregor finds more details that put his life in jeopardy. The cast (with the exception of Cattrall who bugged me) is supreme and Olivia Williams (most recently in Dollhouse) steals the show. Check out this movie for a nod to how movies used to be; well thought out pieces of art.

The Joneses - David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Gary Cole- ****
I tweet, I facebook. I am usually an early adopter, if not, definitely in the early majority. I also work in sales and have a marketing and public relations background. So I really appreciated The Joneses, a movie about self marketing. Duchovny and Moore along with their two children move into an upscale neighborhood, sporting all the coolest clothing, toys and food. Their life looks perfect, except it is all a fake. They are not a family, they are a team of sales people whose job is to introduce specific products into the marketplace. They seem cool and trendy and others want to buy the showcased items in order to "keep up with the Joneses". I won't say any more because I think this movie is better if you know nothing about it. Go see it. You will leave thinking about what you buy, why you buy it and the state of consumerism in America. Plus, Demi Moore looks gorgeous, David Duchovny solidly remains in my top 3 and you will be thinking about Gary Cole for hours afterwards.

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